Aggie Women’s Basketball Drops SEC Test Versus Ole Miss, 57-38

WTAW 1620 Aggie Basketball

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M women’s basketball team dropped Sunday’s game against Ole Miss, 57-38, inside Reed Arena.

Playing with just seven players available for the fourth time this season, the Aggies once again got the job done on the defensive end but were unable to convert on the offensive opportunities. The Maroon & White held Ole Miss 16 points below its season scoring average. For the 2022-23 campaign, Texas A&M has held every opponent under their average scoring output. The Aggies limited the Rebels to 35.1% (20-of-57) shooting from the field, their second-lowest percentage of the season.

Aaliyah Patty registered her second double-double of the season and the 13th of her career. She paced the Aggies in points (14), rebounds (10) and assists (3). Jada Malone logged 10 points, four rebounds and two steals.

Ole Miss scored 11-consecutive points, staking claim to a 13-4 lead at the 2:57 mark of the first quarter, but the Aggies clawed their way back into the contest. The Maroon & White closed out the period on a 9-2 run with Kay Kay Green sinking a pair of midrange jumpers in the final 1:41 to close the gap to 15-13 at the break.

The Aggies nosed ahead Ole Miss, 17-15, just over a minute into the second quarter with a layup by Eriny Kindred, but the Rebels stormed back, outscoring A&M 19-2 over the last seven minutes to take a 36-21 lead into halftime.

Texas A&M played stout defense in the third quarter, holding the Rebels to 15.4% (2-of-13) shooting from the field and eight points. It marked just the second time Ole Miss was held to single digits in a quarter in 2022-23. Patty made all three of her shots in the period, including a 15-foot jumper to cut the Ole Miss edge to 41-31 at the 2:37 mark. The Rebels carried a 44-33 advantage into the final break.

The Maroon & White trimmed the margin to 10 points again at the 7:53 mark of fourth quarter with an old-fashioned 3-point play by Kindred, but Ole Miss closed out the game on an 11-2 run.

Up Next
Texas A&M continues action inside Reed Arena when it hosts the Tennessee Lady Vols for Thursday’s 8 p.m. contest.

POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES

Texas A&M moves to 5-9 in the 2022-23 regular season, including 0-4 in the SEC.
The Aggies’ overall record against the Rebels is trimmed to 10-5, including 5-2 in Aggieland.
Joni Taylor’s career record moves to 145-84 all-time and to 5-9 in her first season with the Aggies.

TEAM NOTES

  • The Aggies held an opponent to under 60 points inside Reed Arena for the eighth time this season.
  • The Maroon & White limited the Rebels to their lowest-scoring game this season, allowing them to only put up 57 points with their previous low being 58 against Little Rock on Nov. 13, 2022.
  • The Aggies held Ole Miss 16.1 points below their season scoring average. The Maroon & White have held every opponent under their scoring average this season.
  • The Texas A&M defense held the Rebels to their lowest-scoring quarter of the season, limiting them to only eight points in the third period.
  • The Maroon & White held the Ole Miss to 3-of-16 (19%) from deep. This marks the seventh time this season the Aggies have held an opponent under 20% from behind the arc.
  • Texas A&M utilized a starting lineup of Sydney Bowles, Kay Kay Green, Eriny Kindred, Jada Malone and Aaliyah Patty for the second time this season (0-2).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Aaliyah Patty

  • Recorded her second double-double of the season, eighth in her two years at A&M and 13th in her 121 career games as she put up 14 points and brought down 10 rebounds.
  • Led the team in scoring for the third time this season, marking the fifth game this season she has scored in double digits.
  • Led the Aggies in rebounds for the seventh time this season and the 35th time in her career.
  • With three assists, led her team in assists for the second time this season and the seventh time in her career.
  • Made 6-of-12 from field-goal range (50%).

Jada Malone

  • Scored 10 points, notching the third time this season she has scored in double digits.
  • Swatted away two shots, matching her career high for the third time.

Eriny Kindred

  • Recorded one block, matching her career best.
  • Contributed seven points and five rebounds.

Sydney Bowles

  • Drained one 3-pointer, making it the 12th game this season she has made one-or-more shots from deep.
  • Contributed four rebounds, two assists and one steal.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Head Coach Joni Taylor
On the fourth quarter…
“We ran out of gas. We have to have resilience and be mentally tough when our shots don’t fall. We put so much pressure on every shot and when those shots don’t fall, it is a letdown that leads to us giving up on the defensive end. We can’t let our defensive success depend on our offensive success.”

On the defensive battle…
“The Ole Miss defense is excellent. They are top in the country, and in our league, in several defensive categories. They had 36 at halftime and 31 of those points were off their transition and off our turnovers. They had 21 points off our turnovers and 24 in transition. That’s their plan A and we gave it to them. I thought we did a much better job in the second half of controlling that and then we just got to see the ball go in the hole.”

Junior Guard Kay Kay Green
On how the team can get through this …
“Joni [Taylor] keeps us so poised and watching her on the sideline and how she never changes her attitude or face. She tells us to keep fighting whether we have five or seven.”

Senior Forward Aaliyah Patty
On how the game went…
“Today it did not go the way we wanted it to go, personally and as a team. I think in the fourth quarter we have to keep fighting through fatigue, and adversity and be mentally tough. We let too many things happen in a row. We needed to get offensive rebounds and defend the three better; they made two big threes near the end. The little things, such as boxing out and closing out are things that we have to be better at in the end of the game because that can win or lose a game for us. Tonight, we didn’t get the good outcome, but we’re going to learn from those mistakes and be better next game.”

Story by Thomas Dick, Athletics Communications